Improvement in steam-engines



DAVID R. FRASER.

improvement in Steam-Engines.- NO. 114,125. Patented April25,i87l.

m, KSMM UNITED STATES PATENT QFFICE.

DAVID It. FRASER, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO HIMSELF AND P. W. GATES, OF SAME PLACE.

IMPROVEMENT IN STEAM-ENGINES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 114,125, dated April .25, 1871.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, DAVID It. FRASER, of Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Engines; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, making part of this specification, in which Figure l is a side elevation, partly in sec tion, of an engine having my invention applied to it. Fig. 2 is a top view. Fig. 3 is an elevation of one end, and Fig. 4 is an elevation of the other end.

Similar letters of reference indicate corre sponding parts in the several figures.

The object of this invention is to support both ends of the piston-rod of a horizontal engine in such manner that the piston and its rod and cross-head, and the surfaces on which they slide, are prevented from wearing untrue, as will be hereinafter explained.

To enable others skilled in the art to understand my invention, I will explain its construction and operation.

In the accompanying drawing, Arepresents the bed or frame of a horizontal engine, and B represents a steam-cylinder, which is supported thereon, and which has a piston-rod, C, extended through stuffing-boxes S S, applied to both heads of this cylinder.

One end of the piston-rod C is applied to a cross-head, D, which works between slideways W W on the engine-frame A, and to this cross-head the pitman-rod is attached at 1).

Depending from the cross-head D are two supports, 1 T, which have bearing-blocks p 12 inserted into their lower ends, which blocks receive beneath them the horizontal transverse axle e of an anti-friction wheel, E. This wheel E rolls upon a track, a, and supports the weight of the cross-head D and one end of the piston-rod on this track.

The bearing-blocks p p are vertically adjustable in the supports 1' r, and are adjusted by means of screws 0 0, which pass down through the cross-head and through said supports 1".

At the opposite end of the cylinder B the piston-rod C is supported directly upon an anti-friction wheel, F, the axle f of which turns in bearingbloeks '6 i, which are fitted into recesses made into the upper sides of brackets N N.

By means of screws 0 o, the bearings 1'- i can be adjusted upward.

In order to afl'ord a good support for the rear end of the piston-rod C upon the periphcry of the wheel F, the lower side of this rod is flattened, and the stuffin g-box through which it 1slides is adapted to receive such flattened SM e.

By properly adjusting the bearing-blocks p p and i 'l", by means of the set-screws above described, the piston-rod C will be supported at both ends, together with the cross-head D,

by rolling or anti-friction surfaces, thus re lievlng the stuffing-boxes and the cylinder from the friction which would be produced by the weight of the piston rod and piston. Whatever wear there may be can be compen sated for by the adj usting-screws 0 o.

It will be seen from the above description that I not only greatly reduce the wear of the sliding surfaces, but I also provide for adj usting the rolling or anti-friction supports, so as to compensate for any wear which may result from long use of an engine.

The cross-head D does not rest upon the slidewa-ys W WV, but is held up against the lower sides of said ways by the anti-friction roller or wheel E on the track a. This arrangement of the cross-head not only allows that end of the piston-rod which is attached to it to be supported by the wheel F, but also prevents any tendency of the cross-head to rise or rock in consequence of the oblique direction of the forces acting on it.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The piston-rod C, extended through both ends of the cylinder B, and supported by means of rolli11gsurfaces,in combination with adjusting screws 0 0, substantially as de scribed.

2. The cross-head D, supported, together with its end of the pist0nr0(1 O, upon a track, a, by means of a wheel E, and adjustable bearing-blocks p 19, substantially as described.

3. The arrangement and. combination of the front and rear rollers E and E, piston-rod (1, extended through the cylinder B, cross-head D, and ways V V and a, whereby the piston-rod is supported at both ends upon frie tion-rollers, which are below and directly in line with it, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

DAVID R. FRASER. Witnesses:

F. H. SLoPER, THos. SUTTON. 

